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Plastic Money
the road to the Mark of the Beast
endtimestruth.com
“. . . when
we see what is really at work behind the scenes, the road to the Mark of the
Beast will be seen to loom ever closer.”
During
the same time period as the advent of high technology electronics, another
major change has taken place in the world of economics that will also help to
usher in a cashless society and the Mark of the Beast.
This
rather quiet change has involved the creation of a new form of currency — cards
or plastic money — as a substitute for traditional paper money and
coins, and it has already totally altered the way the world does
business.
Anthony
Sampson said in his book, The Money Lenders,
“… it had begun modestly in February 1950, when the manager of a
small loan company, Frank McNamara, established the Diners Club, which provided
select members with credit at twenty-two restaurants in New York” (p.
244).
McNamara
gave cards to his club members to identify their association with his payment
system.
All
that the members of the Diner’s Club had to do was present their cards at the
participating restaurants when they dined.
Their
meals were then paid for on credit backed by McNamara’s loan company.
The
owners of the restaurants would then bill the Diner’s Club for the cost of the
meal and McNamara’s company would promptly pay them.
Later,
the members would receive a bill in the mail from the Diner’s Club, which would
amount to the cost of the meal plus a small commission for the extension of
credit.
Although
this scenario may sound all too familiar to us who live in the Twenty-First
Century, back in the early days of the Diner’s Club card it was a radical
innovation.
For the
first time, people could pay for something without cash or checks. They
also had the power to obtain instant credit for their purchases through point
of sale loans financed by the Diner’s Club.
Even if
the customers didn’t have any cash in their pockets, they could still buy a
meal just by presenting the card.
For
this reason, the new cards became known as credit cards or plastic
money, and it wasn’t long before the concept multiplied like wildfire.
The
rush for instant credit really took off in 1958 with the introduction of the
American Express card.
This
was similar to the Diner’s Club card, but it was also far more extensive than
the original concept Frank McNamara had in mind.
The new
twist was that American Express would extend the payment card concept to retail
stores and service centers all across the country.
Organizations
wanting to participate in the latest way-to-pay rushed to take advantage of the
consumer potential.
Soon
thereafter, Mastercharge Card (now MasterCard) and Bank Americard (now Visa)
followed with their own credit cards and the revolution quickly expanded
globally.
Europe
also jumped onto the bandwagon with the introduction of the Eurocard in 1978,
and many other countries and regions subsequently developed their own
cards.
In
1992, Eurocard became a global company through the formation of Europay
International, located in Belgium.
This
location also was the regional office of MasterCard International, and Eurocard
and MasterCard began a new joint venture called Maestro International.
In 2002,
Europay International and MasterCard merged and formed MasterCard
Worldwide.
The
Eurocard is still a major European payment card, which is accepted all over the
world for business and personal use.
Clearly,
the trend is toward the integration of payment cards into a global system that
will operate worldwide.
A
person having any one of the major cards can now use them to purchase goods and
services in virtually any country of the world, even in the poorest of
nations.
The
convenience of handing over a card as opposed to carrying cash has appealed to
millions of consumers, especially when large purchases are involved.
Today,
these global cards along with a host of other regional cards have become truly
universal in scope. Billions of dollars now exchange hands every day as a
result of buying and selling with the many different forms of plastic money.
Banks
and financial institutions who sponsored the cards also strongly advocated
them, because they produced huge influxes of new capital in the form of
interest money and user fees.
At
first, lending laws governing conventional loans also could be sidestepped with
this type of credit scheme.
Unfortunately,
the added bonanza for the lending institutions resulted in interest rates for
consumers far exceeding those of normal loans. Still the use of credit
cards continued to climb.
Today,
up to 80% of adults in the U.S. have at least one card, and they spend over $1
trillion each year using them.
Over
the last twenty years, however, a new trend is beginning to transform the
concept of the credit card into much more than Frank McNamara and the original
card companies ever thought possible.
In a
reflection of this change, Mastercharge Card changed its name to simply,
Mastercard, and Bank Americard switched to the more international sounding,
Visa.
Superficially,
these changes might not seem significant, but when we see what is really at
work behind the scenes, the road to the Mark of the Beast will be seen to loom
ever closer.
With
cards becoming more popular than ever, there is actually a movement to severely
limit the use of them to obtain quick credit.
The
total worldwide credit card debt has soared over $4 trillion, and U.S.
consumers represent about 40% of that total.
In
addition, with the global economic recession causing high unemployment or
under-employment, the debt crisis has been transformed into a very real
liability for banks and credit card companies as greater numbers of customers
default on their payments.
Economywatch.com says
that up to 25% of Americans have a debt problem due to overspending on credit
cards.
To
overcome this problem, the card companies saw an opportunity to extend the card
concept to become more of a replacement for cash or checks instead of just
offering revolving credit.
American
Express Card has always been a “pay as you go” card where each bill must be
paid in full within thirty days of receipt.
Most
other cards also have the option of paying immediately and thus avoiding any
finance charges.
However,
the overall trend in the industry is now leaning toward specialized cards that
will be used exclusively as direct substitutes for cash.
These
second generation debit cards allow purchases to be made just
like those of the original credit cards, but do not even have a credit or time
payment option available.
Debit
cards, according to their advocates, are the modern-day answer to the
checkbook. Instead of writing out a check and having your bank make the
resulting payment, you simply hand over your card.
However,
unlike the normal credit card where using one is treated as a way to pay for
something that you may not have the money to buy at the time, the debit card
requires an immediate full cash payment backed up by a bank account having
enough funds to cover the purchase.
At
first, this cash requirement often came in the form of a one month’s delay,
where you wouldn’t be invoiced until the following billing period.
Now,
however, the debit card is being used in an electronic system of much more
elaborate design.
The
movement away from cash or the physical exchange of money to the use of credit
cards and debit cards using electronic currency requires an elaborate
underlying network to facilitate the transfer of information and funds.
The
operation of this system still is done by the transfer of currency credits,
such as dollars or other currencies, but the movement to electronic buying and
selling is conditioning us to accept the elimination of cash.
Some
countries have recently eliminated cash for some transactions, such as public
transport systems or payment of taxes.
This is
being done using the next generation card, called a smart card, which will be
discussed in another section.
However,
smart card transactions extend the electronic network to include even the card
itself, which contains all of your personal financial information.
This
vast computer network has been constructed over the same time period as the
transition from cash and checks to plastic money.
In the
next section, the development of these electronic networks will be discussed as
well as how the Empire of the Beast is preparing for the soon elimination of
all cash from society.
Those
that have developed and manage this network will eventually be able to control
the lives of every person on Earth through the absolute control of money!
End
Times Truth
is about warning people that the Coming of Christ is near and that we are
living in the last days just before His Return. During our lifetime, Bible
predictions concerning the Second Coming have been fulfilled exactly as they
were described thousands of years ago. Jesus said that we could know that
his coming was near if we watched world events and compared them to what was
predicted. As the prophecies come true before our eyes, we know that we
are getting closer to the end. While it is true that the world is heading
toward a judgment day, individuals can escape through knowledge of the truth
combined with repentance and faith in Christ (see Escape
to Safety).
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